1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of .intravascular medicine and more particularly to the field of catheters such as guide catheters used for the placement of medicines and medical devices within the body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of intravascular catheters for treatment of the body is well known in the field of medicine. The need for a choice of catheter sizes and types has grown rapidly as the techniques for their use have been greatly improved and the types of medical uses have expanded quickly.
Prior art catheters often comprise a pair of congruent tubes, the inner one defining a lumen. A hub is connected at the proximal end of the tubes which in addition to providing access to the lumen for fluids and the like, is often used to provide torques and other necessary pressures to the tubes during their placement within the body. A tip of a selected design is placed at the distal end of the tubes. Flexibility is an essential part of the catheter so that it may be successfully torqued, pushed and pulled on its way through the vascular passage to the desired site in the body. For control of the catheter and to prevent its kinking from excessive flexing a certain amount of rigidity is required. The prior art catheters often meet this need for rigidity by adding a support member between the two tubes. This support member may comprise a braid of metal wire wrapped around the inner tube, and often imbedded within the outer tube.
As specific examples of the type of prior art catheters described above, note U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,234, issued Dec. 23, 1969, to R. C. Stevens, for TUBULAR PRODUCTS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME; and, European Patent Application, Publication No. 0 277 366/A1, Priority Jun. 1, 1987, by Bruce h. Ward, for GUIDING CATHETER AND METHOD FOR MAKING IT. Each of these references teaches, in general, the prior art type of catheter discussed above.
One problem that has arisen is that as it becomes desirable to increase the diameter of the catheter lumen, it also becomes desirable to decrease the thickness of the walls of the tubes that form the catheter. However, it has been found that in thinner-walled catheters it is more difficult to prevent the kinking of the catheter. This negative effect on flexibility is overcome by the above cited co-pending Application, which is incorporated by reference herein.
The disadvantage of the prior art was overcome by providing a high tensile, stainless steel braid as the support structure. However, it has been found that the use of the high tensile metal braid may cause an additional problem for practitioners of the catheter art. It has been seen that the high tensile wire has a tendency to flare or spring out during the heating process used in joining the catheter to a tip or other apparatus. In a similar way, this flaring and springing of the support braid wire is found in prior art catheters even when using the lower tensile type of wire. This flaring will interfere in the proper joinder of the catheter to, for example, a tip and is clearly undesirable and unacceptable in an intravenous catheter.